Stevenson pulls away from Warren
After beating their top two rivals in Libertyville and Lake Zurich in close games in their last two contests, the Stevenson girls basketball team wanted to keep that momentum going Friday night against visiting Warren.
And while the Patriots got off to a slow start in the opening quarter, they were able to outscore the Blue Devils 15-9 in the second quarter to take a 22-14 lead into halftime.
From there, Stevenson (7-1, 4-0) really got rolling as it took a 36-22 lead on a runner by Sydney Rosland to end the third quarter before coasting to a 41-25 North Suburban Conference victory.
Warren (4-4, 2-2) looked like it was going to hang with the Patriots as a driving basket by Mimi Dilosa to open the second half cut the lead to 22-16.
But that was as close as the Blue Devils would get as two free throws by Rosland (13 points) capped a 10-point run to give Stevenson its biggest lead at 32-16 with 3:53 left in the third quarter.
"We were a little sleepy to start, but we're going to hang our hats on the defensive end and we kind of let our defense fuel our offense," said first-year Stevenson coach Regan Carmichael. "Their defensive pressure sped us up a little. I'm really proud of Sydney Rosland, she did a really great job and she does a lot of great things defensively for us."
Warren really struggled offensively in the second half while DePaul-bound Stevenson senior Emory Klatt scored 10 of her game-high 19 points in the second half. Klatt recently became only the second player school history besides Tauja Catchings to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career.
"When we play the strongest teams in our conference there is just no room for our breakdowns and poor execution and we're trying to solve that," said Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz. "We have to play with better energy right from the tip. We have to get over I think the mental block as a team, and we're just not making the right plays."
Nari Powers led the Blue Devils with 7 points followed by teammate Mariah Phelps with 6 points. Warren teammates Kendall Williams and Laurel Jewell scored 4 points each as did Warren teammates Shay Love and Jamila Bland.
"I think it was a really slow start and they had a lot of pressure on us," said Klatt. "In the second half we especially just ran our plays, we were patient with the ball, and our shots fell."